Beaver Mines and Steeples, April 20

Monday, April 20 Beaver Mines [Day 56] 0615-2045 (Peter Sherrington and Hilary Atkinson). The temperature at 0615 was 5C, the high at 1700 was 16C and it was 12C at 2045. Winds were W 20 km/h to 0800 after which they were steady WSW-W 30-40 gusting 55 and occasionally 60 km/h for the rest of the day. It was cloudless to 1140 after which 70-100% altostratus, altocumulus and cirrus cloud persisted to 1900 when it thinned to 30-20% altocumulus for the rest of the day. Migration and observing conditions were again very good and produced a count of 46 migrant raptors of a season-high 11 species that moved between 0659 and 1913. The count was 1 adult Bald Eagle, 4 Northern Harriers (2 females: 1j, 1u, 1u male and 1 unidentified bird), 8 Sharp-shinned Hawks (1a, 2j, 5u), 1u Cooper’s Hawk, 1 juvenile Northern Goshawk, 1 adult dark morph Broad-winged Hawk, 10 calurus Red-tailed Hawks (7a and 2u light morphs, and 1a dark morph), 11 Golden Eagles (1a, 2sa, 8j), 3 American Kestrels (1 female , 2u), 5 columbarius Merlins (3u males and 1 adult and 1u females) and 1 adult Peregrine Falcon. The highest single-hour count was 9 between 1300 and 1400 and the next two hours each saw the passage of 7 birds. Non-migrants were 3 adult Northern Harriers with the males displaying for much of the day and often together, and 2 or 3 pairs of Red-tailed Hawks. At Mount Lorette Blake Weis reported an April-high count of 69 migrants of 9 species in 13.75 hours of observation that comprised 1 Osprey, 9 Bald Eagles (5a, 4sa), 1 adult female Northern Harrier, 5 Cooper’s Hawks (1a, 4u), 1 adult Northern Goshawk, 1 unidentified Accipiter, 2 adult light morph Red-tailed Hawks (1 borealis and 1 calurus), 45 Golden Eagles (17sa, 21j, 7u) that is the highest count for the species since April 2, 2 columbarius Merlins (1 adult male and 1u), 1 Prairie Falcon and 1 unidentified raptor. Other birds seen at Beaver Mines were 8 Canada Geese, 16 Mallards, 6 Green-winged Teal, 1 Rock Pigeon, 1 American Coot, 1 pair of Sandhill Cranes, 1 Wilson’s Snipe, 3 Downy Woodpeckers, 2 Hairy Woodpeckers, 1 Red-shafted Flicker, 2 Steller’s Jays, 3 Blue Jays, 23 American Crows, 21 Common Ravens, 3 Tree Swallows 1 Black-capped Chickadee, 2 Mountain Chickadees, 11 American Robins, 11 European Starlings, 16 Evening Grosbeaks, 7 Pine Grosbeaks, an estimated  total of 1880 Grey-crowned Rosy-Finches that flew high to the NNW in 6 flocks between 1027 and 1855, the largest of which at 1712 contained about 1500 birds and looked like a large elongate plume of smoke snaking from the ridge-top, 16 Dark-eyed Juncos (4 cismontanus and 12 montanus) and 6 male Red-winged Blackbirds.

14.5 hours (701.7) BAEA 1 (348), NOHA 4 (31), SSHA 8 (68), COHA 1 (12), NOGO 1 (41), BWHA 1 (4), RTHA 10 (248), GOEA 11 (1091), AMKE 3 (10), MERL 5 (20), PEFA 1 (7) TOTAL 46 (1971)

Monday, April 20 Steeples [Day 43] 1400-1715 (Vance Mattson). The temperature reached 18C, winds were moderate S and 60% thin altostratus, cumulus and cirrus gave sunny conditions. No migrants were seen, and non-migrants were 11 Turkey Vultures, 2 adult Bald Eagles, 2 Red-tailed Hawks and 1 juvenile Golden Eagle. The highlight of the day, however, was seeing 3 American White Pelicans on the wetlands near Wasa on the return trip from the site.

3.25 hours (226.3) TOTAL 0 (489)